My 1975 KZ400 Cafe Build

tomsljr

tomsljr

Been Around the Block
Hello all, new member here. I thought I would share my build so far. About a month ago I traded an old clapped out Jeep for this lovely:

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It was in running condition but severely challenged in the looks dept. The PO had done a half-assed chopper mod on it. I have always wanted a cafe bike, so I thought this would be a good candidate. First: Making the seat.

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Then some paint

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Then move the battery and electronics, add bars, rub out the paint and start the signal rewiring

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Then a little upholstery

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Then some bar-end mirrors and velocity stacks, and this is pretty much how she sits today

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I did a bunch more boring stuff like setting valve clearances, points gap, oil leak repair, etc. The new forks should be here tomorrow, and it will be back on the road by evening. Here's a little video of it running to get a sense of the sound (it is really loud, straight pipes)
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Thanks. It was my first shot a sewing a seat. I thought I was going to run the white stripe through the whole bike, but I'm kinda digging the simple black look right now. I did the wiredgeorge coil mod today. Can't fire it up yet, my hillbilly cinder block bike stand won't hold it steady enough. Forks should be here in the next day or two and I will update then.
 
I'm on the road right now with my old BMW K75S. Riding it back from Chicago to home in Tennessee only on back road, no interstate. Great ride so far. I will have some updates next week, got to resolve some charging issues (stator coil is a goner). Thanks for your interest.
 
I took the plunge and have started over (sort of) on the cafe bike. I am going to strip it to the frame and start from there. I was in a hurry to get a roller before, but now I have my Beemer here, I can really get into this one over the winter. My winter quarters for wrenching are rather cramped, but I think by concentrating on a part or two at a time, I can make it work. Disassembly is about 50%. I replaced the stator last month and that seemed to solve the electric issues. But the tank was so abysmally rusted it has fouled the entire fuel system. I am starting with a thorough cleaning of the carbs, which I started last night and finished tonight.

Where I am working:
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the engine now:
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carbs before:
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carbs after:
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and just for fun, a pic of my old K-bike daily driver:
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Tomorrow I will finish disassembly and start on cleaning up the engine.
 
same carbs i got here! what jets did you end up going with? got any pics of when you where doing the seat pad?
 
The jets are stock at the moment. I am looking around for a good rebuild kit, and will decide on jets then. Because I don't have the breather box, I am going to have to go up, or it's gonna be seriously lean.

I didn't take pics of the upholstery process, but I think I am going to do another one from the hide I had left over from doing the Beemer seat. (I had a pro do that one). If you want, I can describe the process. I wasn't hard, just one frustrating night.

The stacks are from Ebay. They are for a Honda 500/4 I think, but they fit the Kehlins fine. They come in sets of four, so I have two left.
 
It was too rainy today to continue on the engine cleaning, so I did some polishing on the forks. I used an abrasive system that I have had sitting around for 13 years or so. It is called MicroMesh, and it goes up to 12,000 grit. It takes a lot of elbow grease, but works really well. Finished up with a little Mothers and Turtlewax Ice.
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I ground down the frame and got some paint on it. I used the epoxy appliance paint, and I think I am really going to like it. I builds very nice and flows out well. If it is tough and holds up to fuel it's going to be perfect.
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it will do alright with fuel as long as it is not just sitting there for a long time, hell even aircraft stripper takes a good 1/2 hour to pull this paint up! I LOVE the white appliance paint... looks sick! that is what my tank and tins are done in... i use it for everything!!! be sure to give it a week before you put on another coat! and/or start to work with it... you should do the wheels in white as well either that or the off white they have, both look sick once painted.. i did the cream on a set of rims about a year ago, looked awesome!
 
I've been planning on calling this bike The PoleCat, which is southern slang for a skunk. In that vein, I am thinking of having a couple small decals made with this graphic on them:
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It is the logo of the old Lockheed Skunk Works, where they engineered neat little things like the SR-71 Blackbird. Is this cool, or just too stupid for words? I was thinking of maybe just about two or so inches high, one for each side of the seat. I will probably be continuing the seat stripe through the bike, so the skunk thing is going to be out there anyway.
 
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